2013 Dodge Dart vid

Grizz wrote: ...How does one grenade a 225? ...

Slant 6s have one issue that limits high RPM operation, they only have 4 main bearings. When you combine that with the 225's 4.125" stroke, spinning them above about 5000 RMP without serious reductions in bob weight (aluminum rods, custom pistons, and TI wristpins) is a short term situation. It may work on the 1320, but 15-20 lap sessions on a track with a 2000' + front straight is a recipie for fragged cast iron. I DON't knnow exactly how hard the PO was spinning the slants, but I DO I know he took exceptional care to assure oil supply on the 2nd slant (the 318 inheitited the 25 PSI oil light and 3 Qt Accusump); but it still cross ventalated. The 318 has been in there since at least '02 has at least 5 autocross seasons on it, and has been tuned from 196 RWHP to 330 RWHP with barely a grunt (pulls to its 6800 RPM limit in 4th against 3.55:1 gears and 25.5" tall Goodyear Blue Streaks down the front staight at Summit Point main; probably going to 3.23:1, The Dart weights 3411 with me and 10 gallons of 93 octane).

Dave

psteav wrote: ...But you're right about the Slant-6 association with the "Dart" name. Growing up, the first thing I learned about old Mopars was to check which side the exhaust pipe was on. Left meant /6, right meant a V8. Most of the A-bodies had the pipe on the left.

Actually the Early A-bodies, with the HIPO 273 (235 SAE Gross Except for the D-Dart at 275+) or standard 273 had left side single exhausts (no provision for a right side pipe in the trans mount (nothing a BFH can't fix though ).

Back to the new Dart,

I just watched a video on AutoBlog of the dashboard and it has the thin film LCD gauge cluster like Jaguars and Range Rovers. You can change the configuration of the gauges and such. Pretty cool IMO.

poopshovel wrote: Wow. Utterly craptastic! Nice ford focus complete with hillbilly lighting kit. Why not call it a "Stratus" or "Cirrus?" Is anyone seriously excited about this?

Is anybody really surprised......

In reply to cpdave:

The 170, with its shorter stroke, was better for revving and was not so hard on the bottom end.

Rob_Mopar wrote: As to calling it a Dart instead of reviving the Neon name, it's been 36 years since the last Dart rolled off the lines in the States. There are still plenty of non-car people who think of the Darts as solid reliable cars. When I had my old '72 or '68 out somewhere normal, like a gas station or grabbing a bite to eat these non-car people would come up and tell stories of the Dart they or a family member had, etc.

Exactly! With the number of 225 and 318 / 2 barrel powered Darts out there, Darts didn't just have a reputation as basic transportation; they have a reputation as unkillable basic transportation. I think Chrysler's trying to conjure that image up with the new Dart.

I've also kind of thought, "What if Dodge had kept the Dart name in continuous use, like Toyota did with the Corolla?" It might not have had the same unkillable reputation, but if the Dart nameplate had occupied the same niche it did while the Dart was in production (being either the smallest and cheapest car in the Dodge lineup, or one step up, with the smaller car being a Colt or Lancer), we'd have probably seen the Dart nameplate on the cars we know as the Aspen, Aries, Shadow, and finally the Stratus or Neon. And the new Dart does look like it's stylistically in the same vein as the Stratus and Neon.

Since I can't find any literature that tells me it is RWD or FWD, I am going to assume that it is FWD and hence just another toaster.

RWD would have made it a Car.

Good new is that more buyers need toasters than cars, so if they can market the thing it should sell.

Oh joy another Fugly way to bright to be behind at night rear end...

44Dwarf wrote: Oh joy another Fugly way to bright to be behind at night rear end...

That sentence makes no sense.

He is saying there are too many lights on the butt end of the car, much like the new Charger and Challengers.

Thanks for giving it a name. I am sick or letters/numbers.

I have a crush on cpdave.

Brett_Murphy wrote: He is saying there are too many lights on the butt end of the car, much like the new Charger and Challengers.

I've been behind the new Chargers and Challengers and they don't bother me. They're not that bright either.

I live in the country and there is no such thing as not enough taillights.

MadScientistMatt wrote: Exactly! With the number of 225 and 318 / 2 barrel powered Darts out there, Darts didn't just have a reputation as basic transportation; they have a reputation as unkillable basic transportation. I think Chrysler's trying to conjure that image up with the new Dart.

Funny thing is, they are specifically NOT referring to the original dart, at all. Strange huh?

Its a focus... No... a civic si.... A charger? What the berkeley?

Way to be original, mopar.

poopshovel wrote: I have a crush on cpdave.

Remember to wear protection.

In reply to MadScientistMatt:

The 318 is darn near bullet proof. I have two Shelby Dakotas, both with over well over 100,000 miles, one which was abused and thoroughly thrashed before I acquired it and the compression readings of the total of 16 cylinders between the two trucks is between 170 and 180 PSI. The abused engine is pulling the same numbers as the well-maintained engine. Early LA 318s and 318 truck engines into the 80s came with forged steel cranks too.

What? No Valiant?

Bummer.

Random aside:

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/wat/cto/2782425981.html

In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid:

I agree with you 100%, I was just stating what I thought 44Dwarf was saying.

I also happen to like the long LED light arrangement thing they have going on.

poopshovel wrote: Random aside: http://atlanta.craigslist.org/wat/cto/2782425981.html

"I really would like to keep it but I'm in need of something more practical."

More practical than a four-door with bench seats, trunk, and an automatic?

As far as the new Dart, I'd look at it like I would any other new Mopar. And wish for an SRT version.

More practical than a four-door with bench seats, trunk, and an automatic?

Seriously. Just needs thee b00sts.

I want a '62 or '63-'66 Dart wagon something fierce.

The new one seems ok.

Moparman wrote: In reply to MadScientistMatt: The 318 is darn near bullet proof. I have two Shelby Dakotas, both with over well over 100,000 miles, one which was abused and thoroughly thrashed before I acquired it and the compression readings of the total of 16 cylinders between the two trucks is between 170 and 180 PSI. The abused engine is pulling the same numbers as the well-maintained engine. Early LA 318s and 318 truck engines into the 80s came with forged steel cranks too.

I have had a 318 that the previous owner had nearly managed to kill. '85 Diplomat, ex-highway patrol car. Bought it cheap, ran awful. Took it home and pulled a valve cover. More sludge than I had ever seen in any motor...we were afraid to clean it because it had been there long enough it looked structural. The reason it wasn't running right was because a pushrod had been shoved up through a rocker arm. That was a new one on me, and on my dad as well...

Still ran, though.

93EXCivic wrote: I want a '62 or '63-'66 Dart wagon something fierce. The new one seems ok.

Ask. Receive:

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/wat/cto/2734932712.html

Are those some big, beautiful pieces of glass or what?